Method and apparatus for bootstraping information in a communication system

ABSTRACT

Accordingly, a method and apparatus are provided wherein an apparatus comprises plurality of electronic devices, each having a logic, wherein the apparatus is configured for receiving a preamble comprising frame structure parameters; extracting said frame structure parameters from said preamble; and determining a frame structure by demodulating said frame structure parameters.

REFERENCE TO CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS FOR PATENT

The present Application for Patent is related to the followingco-pending U.S. patent Applications:

Provisional Application No. 60/731,013, entitled, “MOBILE WIRELESSACCESS SYSTEM”, filed concurrently herewith, assigned to the assigneehereof and expressly incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present description relates generally to a bootstrap technique, moreparticularly, bootstrapping information/parameters on a forward link inmanner that allows an access terminal to determine the structure of theforward communication link and reverse communication link in acommunication system.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, data, and so on. Thesesystems may be multiple-access systems capable of supportingcommunication with multiple users by sharing the available systemresources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of suchmultiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA)systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequencydivision multiple access (OFDMA) systems.

Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system cansimultaneously support communication for multiple wireless accessterminals (ATs). Each AT communicates with one or more base stations viatransmissions on the forward and reverse links. The forward link (ordownlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to theATs, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication linkfrom the ATs to the base stations.

There are many possible configuration of the forward link (FL) andreverse link (RL) structure. In order for an AT to start utilizing thefull capabilities of a system, the AT must have some knowledge of howthe FL and RL are configured. In an OFDMA system, there are manypossible configurations of the FL and RL structure. Such as number ofguard carries, sub-carriers, number of pilots, etc. Without the FL/RLstructure information/parameters, the AT either coming into a new sectoror waking up on new sector will not be able receive any information onthe FL/RL physical channels. One possible way to solve the problem wouldbe to provide a set of known configurations to the AT and have the ATmaintain these configurations in memory. However, the total amount ofconfiguration parameters needed could require a large amount of storageon the AT device. However, even if the AT had the capability to storethe required configuration parameters, there would be significant issueswhen the operator desired to change/modify the configuration throughoutall or part of their network. For any new base station or any basestation with an new configuration The AT would have to searchexhaustively through all the configuration possibilities in order to setup a communication link. Alternatively, the owner of the AT coulddownload the new configuration from another information network orphysically go to the operator of system to get the updated theconfigurations. Therefore there is need for a convenient method ofproviding FL and RL structure to the AT without requiring time-consumingexhaustive search by the AT. Further, such a solution should enable thenetwork operator to make configuration changes in the network as neededwithout compromising performance of the AT or placing undue burden onthe owner of the AT.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In an aspect, an apparatus comprises plurality of electronic devices,each having a logic, wherein the apparatus is configured for receiving apreamble comprising at least one physical frame structure parameter; anddetermining a FL physical frame structure by using said receivedphysical frame structure parameter.

In an aspect, an apparatus comprises plurality of electronic devices,each having a logic, wherein the apparatus is configured for receiving aFL physical frame comprising at least one RL physical frame structureparameter; and determining a RL physical frame structure by using saidRL physical frame structure parameter.

A more complete appreciation of all the advantages and scope of theaspects can be obtained from the accompanying drawings, the descriptionand the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features, nature, and advantages of the present disclosure willbecome more apparent from the detailed description set forth below whentaken in conjunction with the drawings in which like referencecharacters identify correspondingly throughout and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a multiple access wireless communication systemaccording to one aspect;

FIG. 2 a block diagram of a communication system;

FIG. 3 illustrates a superframe preamble structure; and

FIG. 4A illustrates a process executed by the access point;

FIG. 4B illustrates a process executed by the access point; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a process executed by access terminal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a multiple access wireless communication systemaccording to one aspect is illustrated. A access point 100 (AP) includesmultiple antenna groups, one including 104 and 106, another including108 and 110, and an additional including 112 and 114. In FIG. 1, onlytwo antennas are shown for each antenna group, however, more or fewerantennas may be utilized for each antenna group. In some aspects, anaccess point 100 comprises a traffic radio unit, one or more high poweramplifiers, a central processor, one or more transmitter, one or moretransmitter, one or more microwave antennas, fiber optic multiplexers,and Internet protocol switch for networking, one more memory modules andone more combiners.

Access terminal 116 (AT) is in communication with antennas 112 and 114,where antennas 112 and 114 transmit information to access terminal 116over forward link 120 and receive information from access terminal 116over reverse link 118. Access terminal 122 is in communication withantennas 106 and 108, where antennas 106 and 108 transmit information toaccess terminal 122 over forward link 126 and receive information fromaccess terminal 122 over reverse link 124.

Each group of antennas and/or the area in which they are designed tocommunicate is often referred to as a sector of the access point. In anaspect, antenna groups each are designed to communicate to accessterminals in a sector, of the areas covered by access point 100.

A access point may be a fixed station used for communicating with theterminals and may also be referred to as base station, a Node B, or someother terminology. A access terminal may also be called mobile station,a user equipment (UE), a wireless communication device, terminal, accessterminal or some other terminology.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an aspect of a transmitter system 210 (alsoknown as the access point) and a receiver system 250 (also known asaccess terminal) in a communication system 200. At the transmittersystem 210, traffic data for a number of data streams is provided from adata source 212 to a transmit (TX) data processor 214.

In an aspect, each data stream is transmitted over a respective transmitantenna. TX data processor 214 formats, codes, and interleaves thetraffic data for each data stream based on a particular coding schemeselected for that data stream to provide coded data.

The coded data for each data stream may be multiplexed with pilot datausing OFDM techniques. The pilot data is typically a known data patternthat is processed in a known manner and may be used at the receiversystem to estimate the channel response. The multiplexed pilot and codeddata for each data stream is then modulated (i.e., symbol mapped) basedon a particular modulation scheme (e.g., BPSK, QSPK, M-PSK, or M-QAM)selected for that data stream to provide modulation symbols. The datarate, coding, and modulation for each data stream may be determined byinstructions performed by processor 230.

The modulation symbols for all data streams are then provided toTransmitter (TMTR) 222. Each transmitter 222 receives and processes arespective symbol stream to provide one or more analog signals, andfurther conditions (e.g., amplifies, filters, and upconverts) the analogsignals to provide a modulated signal suitable for transmission over achannel. The modulated signals from transmitters are then transmittedfrom antenna 224.

At receiver system 250, the transmitted modulated signals are receivedby antenna 252 and the received signal from each antenna 252 is providedto a receiver (RCVR) 254. The receiver 254 conditions (e.g., filters,amplifies, and downconverts) a respective received signal, digitizes theconditioned signal to provide samples, and further processes the samplesto provide a corresponding “received” symbol stream.

An RX data processor 260 then receives and processes the received symbolstreams from receiver 254 based on a particular receiver processingtechnique to provide the “detected” symbol streams. The RX dataprocessor 260 then demodulates, deinterleaves, and decodes each detectedsymbol stream to recover the traffic data for the data stream. Theprocessing by RX data processor 260 is complementary to that performedby TX Data processor 214 at transmitter system 210.

Upon entering a new sector or during a wake up sequence, the processor270 determines FL structure and RL structure by executing process 300,described below. The reverse link message is then processed by a TX dataprocessor 238, which also receives traffic data for a number of datastreams from a data source 236, modulated by a modulator 280,conditioned by transmitter 254, and transmitted back to transmittersystem 210.

At transmitter system 210, the modulated signals from receiver system250 are received by antennas 224, conditioned by receivers 222,demodulated by a demodulator 240, and processed by a RX data processor242 to extract the reserve link message transmitted by the receiversystem 250.

In an aspect, a forward link and a reverse link are used to communicatebetween the AP and AT. The forward link comprises a preamble and aplurality of FL Physical frames. The reverse link comprises a pluralityof RL Physical frames. In an aspect, the structure of RL and FL PhysicalFrame is variable and thus can be modified by the system operator tooptimize the performance of the system. Without the knowledge of theFL/RL structure, the AT will not be able receive any information on theFL Physical Frames nor transmit any information the RL Physical Frames.The structure of the preamble is not variable and known to both AP andAT that operated in system according to the aspect. Typically, thepreamble comprises information regarding broadcast channels, overheadmessages, TDM pilot information, etc. The AT is required to know FL/RLstructure at awake up time, when entering a new sector, or whencurrently serving sector indicates a different FL/RL structure to use. Abootstrap mechanism according to an aspect is employed whereby the APwill provide information in the preamble (a non-variable or fixstructure portion of FL) that will allow the AT to determine the FL/RLPhysical structure (variable structure portion). Alternatively, the ATcan provide information about the FL structure in the preamble and RLstructure parameters in the FL Physical frame. Once the AT determinesthe FL physical frame structure and decodes the FL physical frame, theAT can extract the RL physical frame structure from FL physical frame.

The forward link transmission is divided into units of superframes. Asuperframe shall consist of a superframe preamble followed by a seriesof FL PHY Frames. FIG. 3 illustrates a superframe preamble structure.The superframe preamble 300 carries an overhead channels for example inthe first 5 symbols, a common pilot channel (F-CPICH), a broadcastchannel (F-pBCH), an acquisition channel (F-ACQCH), and an interferencechannel (F-OSICH). The F-CPICH that includes pilots that may be used forchannel estimation by access terminals and F-pBCH that includesconfiguration parameters that the access terminal may utilize todemodulate the parameters contained in the forward link frames. Inaddition, it may include information for paging information. In someaspects, it may contain parameters for the timing of the framescontained in a given superframe. The F-ACQCH that may include timing andother parameters sufficient for an access terminal to communicate on oneof the carriers and the F-OSICH may be used for power control at theaccess terminal.

The last three OFDM symbols in the superframe preamble (the symbolsindexed 5 through 7) are time division multiplex (TDM) pilots which areused for initial acquisition. These symbols will also be referred to TDMpilot 1, TDM pilot 2 and TDM pilot 3. The first two of these form the FLAcquisition Channel (F-ACQCH), while the last is reused in order totransmit the FL Other Sector Interference Channel (F-OSICH). The systemsupports a large number of unique PN codes (total number is 4096) inorder to simplify PN planning requirements. Each sector is identified bya number between 0 and 4095 called the PilotPN, and the PN-planningneeds to be such that no two sectors with the same PilotPN areobservable at any location.

In order to reduce acquisition complexity, while still maintaining alarge number of PN codes, a hierarchical pilot structure is used.Therefore, TDM pilot 1 is scrambled using only 2 bits of information(i.e., takes on 4 possible values). TDM pilot 2 is scrambled using 8bits of information (i.e., takes on 256 possible values), 2 of which arethe same ones used to scramble TDM pilot 1. Finally, TDM pilot 3 isscrambled using 12 bits of information, which enables us to distinguish4096 different PilotPN values. Moreover, TDM 1 is a perdiodic pilot(consisting of two periods), and can hence be detected using a lowcomplexity delayed correlation. The delayed correlation can reduce theinitial number of time-hypotheses dramatically, as well as aid infrequency synchronization.

The first five OFDM symbols in the superframe preamble are used to carrythe two FL Primary Broadcast Channels, namely F-pBCH0 and F-pBCH1. Thesechannels carry configuration parameters that the AT needs to have beforeit can demodulate the FL PHY Frames.

An F-pBCH0 packet is encoded over 16 superframes, and occupiesapproximately ¼ of an OFDM symbol in each superframe preamble. Thischannel therefore has an extremely small overhead. An F-pBCH1 packet isencoded over a single superframe and occupies approximately 4¾ OFDMsymbols in each superframe preamble. The bandwidth overhead of thischannel is approximately 2%.

In some aspects, the overhead message comprises a System Info Block(SIB), Quick Channel Info Block (QCIB), and Extended Channel InfoMessage (ECIM). The System Info Block is transmitted over the F-pBCH0channel in the superframe preamble. It contains information that isexpected to be constant over an entire deployment or a large group ofsectors. The parameters it carries include the cyclic prefix duration,the number of guard carriers etc. In addition, it also carries the 12LSBs of the superframe index.

The Quick Channel Info Block is transmitted over the F-pBCH1 channel inthe superframe preamble, more specifically in superframes with oddnumbered superframe index. It contains configuration parameters that mayenable an AT to demodulate other channels that are transmitted in thePHY Frames or may enable an idle-mode AT to demodulate pages that may betransmitted in the PHY Frames. It is desirable that the AT be able todemodulate these pages even if it wakes up in a new sector, and hencethis information may be transmitted with a high periodicity by the AP.

The Extended Channel Info Message contains additional configurationparameters related to FL and RL structure. This includes parametersrelated to RL configuration as well as parameters related totransmission of FL power control bits. The Extended Channel Info messagecomprises of several groups for example Power Control group, the SectorInformation group etc. This message is transmitted like a regular datachannel in predefined superframes, using a broadcast MAC ID.

In certain aspects, other orders of the symbols in superframe may not beas described above. Further, more less of the symbols may be utilized toprovide the some or all of the above described information types. Thenames of the provided symbols are only for information purposes and mayvary.

In an aspect, the FL physical frame comprises the following channels. AForward Acquisition Channel (F-ACQCH), which carries an acquisitionpilot for an access terminal to use to acquire the system. A ForwardAuxiliary Pilot Channel (F-AuxPICH) which carries auxiliary pilots. TheF-pBCH1 indicates whether the F-AuxPICH is present. A Forward CommonPilot Channel (F-CPICH) which carries the common pilot. A Forward DataChannel (F-DCH), which carries information for a specific accessterminal. A Forward Data Channel assignment is assigned to an accessterminal by a Forward Shared Signaling Channel (F-SSCH) assignment. Alsocarries broadcast information including pages and sector specificmessages. Forward Dedicated Pilot Channel (F-DPICH), which carries thededicated pilot wherein the F-pBCH0 may indicate whether the F-DPICH ispresent. A Forward Shared Signaling Channel (F-SSCH), which carriesforward and reverse link data channel assignments, access grants, powercontrol commands, and acknowledgement information for Reverse DataChannel (R-DCH) transmissions.

In an aspect, the RL physical frame comprises the following channels.Reverse Access Channel (R-ACH) is used by access terminals to initiatecommunication with the access network. The Reverse Access Channel isalso used by access terminals to obtain timing corrections. ReverseAcknowledgement Channel (R-ACKCH), which carries acknowledgementinformation of the F-DCH reception. Reverse Beam Feedback Channel(R-BFCH), which carries information about the beam index and the qualityof the forward link channel. Reverse Channel Quality Indicator Channel(R-CQICH), which carries information about the quality of the forwardlink channel of a sector as received by an access terminal. The ReverseChannel Quality Indicator Channel also carries information about thedesired forward link serving sector. Reverse Data Channel (R-DCH), whichcarries information from an access terminal. The Reverse Data Channel isassigned to an access terminal by the F-SSCH assignment. Reverse PilotChannel (R-PICH), which carries the pilot. Reverse Request Channel(R-REQCH), which carries information about the buffer level at differentquality of service classes for an access terminal. The Reverse RequestChannel also carries information about the desired revere link servingsector. Reverse Subband Feedback Channel (R-SFCH), which carriesinformation about the quality of a subband or segment of the forwardlink channel.

It should be noted that the channels described above need not beutilized and may be omitted. Further, other channels may be utilized inaddition to, or in lieu of, any of the above described channels.

In aspect, both the FL and RL Physical frames structure can be variedbased the parameters/value used for chip rate, bandwidth, length ofguard carriers, number of guard carriers, or cyclic prefix. For example,a system may be deployed using chip rate maybe 4.9152, 9.8304 or 19.6608Mcps. Also, the bandwidth may be approximately 5 MHz, approximately 10MHz or approximately 20 MHz. Additionally, the guard carries arefunction of the bandwidth and vary number of guard carriers vary base onsystem requirements.

FIG. 4A illustrates a process 400 according to an aspect which isexecuted by the AP processor 230. Upon AP detecting the FL and/or RLstructure has been altered or this the first time this sector isactivated, process 400 is executed. At block 402, a parameter extractinglogic is executed by the processor 230 for extracting FL and RLstructure parameters from memory. Even though this FL/RL structure canbe altered, the optimized structures are stored in memory, for example232. At block 404, the processor 230 executes logic to generate thepreamble by including the extracted FL/RL Physical Frame structureparameters in a preamble. Thereafter, at block 406, a transmit logic isexecuted by the processor 230 for transmitting the preamble and the FLPhysical frames.

FIG. 4B illustrate a process 420 according to an alternate aspect whichis executed by the AP's processor 230. At block 422, an parameterextracting logic is executed by the processor 230 for extracting FL andRL structure parameters from storage medium, for example memory 232. Atblock 424, the processor 230 executes logic for generating a preamble byincluding only the extracted FL Physical Frame structure parameters in apreamble. The RL structure parameters may be incorporated into data thatwill be sent over the FL Physical Frame. At block 426, a transmit logicis executed by the processor 230 for transmitting the preamble and theFL Physical frames. According to the alternate aspect, the APdemodulates the parameters received on one ore more the FL Physicalframes and extracts the RL Physical Frame structure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a process 500, executed by AT's processor 270. Thisprocess is executed upon AT executing a wake up logic, AT entering a newsector, or AT receiving an indication that FL/RL structure has changed.At block 502, the receiving preamble logic is executed by processor 270for receiving a preamble portion on the FL. At block 504, extractingparameter logic is executed by the processor for extracting parametersfrom one or more of the broadcast channels. In an aspect, the F-pBCH0and pBCH1 of the preamble are extracted. At block 506, demodulatinglogic is executed by processor 270 for demodulating one or more overheadchannels using the parameters extracted from one or more of thebroadcast channels. At block 508, extracting logic is executed by theprocessor 270 for extracting an Extended Channel Message. In an aspect,the Extended Channel Message is used to provide parameters regarding theFL Physical Frame structure. Depending on the deployment of the system,the Extended Channel Message may also comprise the RL Physical FrameStructure.

At block 510, a determining logic is executed by the processor 270 fordetermining the FL Physical Frame structure. For example extractingportion of the Extended Channel Message to determine how the FL PhysicalFrame structure is set up. At block 512, a determining logic is executedby the processor 270 for determining the RL Physical Frame structure.For example, if the RL Physical Frame structure parameters isincorporated in the Extended Channel Message, then extracting portion ofthe Extended Channel Message to determine how the RL Physical Framestructure is set up. In an aspect, a portion of the Extended ChannelMessage may indicate that RL Physical Frame structure parameters will beprovided using the FL Physical Channels. Then AP then will demodulatethe FL Physical Frames as normal and determine the RL Physical FrameStructure from parameters received on one or more the FL Physicalchannels.

The techniques described herein may be implemented by various means. Forexample, these techniques may be implemented in hardware, software, or acombination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing units(e.g., processor 230 and 270, TX and RX processors 214 and 260, and soon) for these techniques may be implemented within one or moreelectronic devices such as application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processingdevices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers,microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform thefunctions described herein, or a combination thereof.

For a software implementation, using instructions stored on amachine-readable medium, for example, the techniques described hereinmay be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on)that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may bestored in memory units (e.g., memory 232 and 272 in FIG. 2) and executedby processors (e.g., controllers 230). The memory unit may beimplemented within the processor or external to the processor, in whichcase it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via variousmeans as is known in the art.

Headings are included herein for reference and to aid in locatingcertain sections. These headings are not intended to limit the scope ofthe concepts described therein under, and these concepts may haveapplicability in other sections throughout the entire specification.

The previous description of the disclosed aspects is provided to enableany person skilled in the art to make or use the present aspect. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects without departing from the spirit or scope of the aspect.Thus, the present aspect is not intended to be limited to the aspectsshown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with theprinciples and novel features disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method in a wireless communication system, themethod comprising: receiving a preamble comprising at least one physicalframe structure parameter; determining a forward link physical framestructure by using the at least one physical frame structure parameter,wherein said determining the forward link physical frame structurecomprises extracting a first portion of said preamble designated forbroadcasting data; and determining a reverse link physical framestructure by using the at least one physical frame structure parameter.2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: receiving atleast one reverse link physical frame structure parameter and receivingat least one forward link physical frame structure parameter.
 3. Themethod as claimed in claim 1, wherein said determining the forward linkphysical frame structure comprises demodulating said first portion ofsaid preamble.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein receivingthe at least one physical frame structure parameter further comprisesreceiving at least one of a cyclic prefix parameter and a bandwidthparameter.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein receiving the atleast one physical frame structure parameter further comprises receivinga plurality of guard carriers parameters.
 6. The method as claimed inclaim 1, further comprising: receiving a forward link physical framecomprising at least one reverse link physical frame structure parameter;and determining the reverse link physical frame structure by using theat least one reverse link physical frame structure parameter.
 7. Amethod in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:extracting physical frame structure parameters from a storage medium,wherein said extracting said physical frame structure parameterscomprises extracting forward link physical frame structure parametersand extracting reverse link physical frame structure parameters;generating a preamble, wherein said preamble comprises said physicalframe structure parameters, and wherein the preamble comprises a firstportion designated for broadcasting data; and transmitting saidpreamble.
 8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein said forward linkphysical frame structure parameters comprising at least one of a cyclicprefix parameter, a bandwidth parameter and a plurality of guard carrierparameters.
 9. An apparatus operable in wireless communication, theapparatus comprising: a processor, said processor configured to receivea preamble comprising at least one physical frame structure parameter;said processor configured to extract a first portion of said preambledesignated for broadcasting data to determine a forward link physicalframe structure by using said received the at least one physical framestructure parameter; and said processor configured to determine areverse link physical frame structure by using the at least one physicalframe structure parameter; and a memory operably connected to saidprocessor.
 10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein saidprocessor is further configured to receive at least one reverse linkphysical frame structure parameter and is configured to receive at leastone forward link physical frame structure parameter.
 11. The apparatusas claimed in claim 9, wherein said processor is further configured todemodulate said first portion of said preamble.
 12. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 9, wherein said processor is further configured toreceive at least one of a cyclic prefix parameter and a bandwidthparameter.
 13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein saidprocessor is further configured to receive a plurality of guard carriersparameters.
 14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein saidprocessor is further configured to receive a forward link physical framecomprising at least one reverse link physical frame structure parameter;and said processor is configured to determine the reverse link physicalframe structure by using the at least one reverse link physical framestructure parameter.
 15. An apparatus operable in wirelesscommunication, the apparatus comprising: a processor, said processorconfigured to: extract physical frame structure parameters from astorage medium, wherein said physical frame structure parameterscomprise forward link physical frame structure parameters and reverselink physical frame structure parameters; generate a preamble, whereinsaid preamble comprises said physical frame structure parameters, andwherein said preamble comprises a first portion designated forbroadcasting data; and transmit said preamble; and a memory operablyconnected to said processor.
 16. The apparatus as claimed in claim 15,wherein said forward link physical frame structure parameters furthercomprise at least one of a cyclic prefix parameter, a bandwidthparameter and a plurality of guard carrier parameters.
 17. An apparatusoperable in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:means for receiving a preamble comprising at least one physical framestructure parameter; means for extracting a first portion of saidpreamble designated for broadcasting data to determine a forward linkphysical frame structure by using the at least one physical framestructure parameter; and means for determining a reverse link physicalframe structure by using the at least one physical frame structureparameter.
 18. The apparatus as claimed in claim 17, further comprising:means for receiving at least one reverse link physical frame structureparameter and means for receiving at least one forward link physicalframe structure parameter.
 19. The apparatus as claimed in claim 17,wherein the means for determining the forward link physical framestructure comprises means for demodulating said first portion of saidpreamble.
 20. The apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein the meansfor receiving the preamble comprising the at least one physical framestructure parameter comprises means for receiving at least one of acyclic prefix parameter and a bandwidth parameter.
 21. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 17, wherein the means for receiving the preamblecomprising the at least one physical frame structure parameter comprisesmeans for receiving a plurality of guard carriers parameters.
 22. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 17, further comprising: means forreceiving a forward link physical frame comprising at least one reverselink physical frame structure parameter; and means for determining thereverse link physical frame structure by using the at least one reverselink physical frame structure parameter.
 23. An apparatus operable in awireless communication system, the apparatus comprising: means forextracting physical frame structure parameters from a storage medium,wherein said means for extracting said physical frame structureparameters comprises means for extracting forward link physical framestructure parameters and means for extracting reverse link physicalframe structure parameters; means for generating a preamble, whereinsaid preamble comprises said physical frame structure parameters, andwherein said preamble comprises a first portion designated forbroadcasting data; and means for transmitting said preamble.
 24. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 23, wherein said forward link physicalframe structure parameters further comprise at least one of a cyclicprefix parameter, a bandwidth parameter and a plurality of guard carrierparameters.
 25. A non-transitory machine-readable medium for storingexecutable instructions including: receiving a preamble comprising atleast one physical frame structure parameter; extracting a first portionof said preamble designated for broadcasting data to determine a forwardlink physical frame structure by using the at least one physical framestructure parameter; and determining a reverse link physical framestructure by using the at least one physical frame structure parameter.26. The non-transitory machine-readable medium as claimed in claim 25,further comprising: machine readable instruction to cause receiving atleast one reverse link physical frame structure parameter and receivingat least one forward link physical frame structure parameter.
 27. Thenon-transitory machine-readable medium as claimed in claim 25, whereinmachine readable instruction to cause receiving the preamble comprisingthe at least one physical frame structure parameter comprises machinereadable instruction to cause receiving at least one of a cyclic prefixparameter and a bandwidth parameter.
 28. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium as claimed in claim 25, wherein machine readableinstruction to cause receiving the preamble comprising the at least onephysical frame structure parameter comprises machine readableinstruction to cause receiving a plurality of guard carriers parameters.29. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructionswhich, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to performoperations for storing executable instructions including: extractingphysical frame structure parameters from a storage medium, wherein saidphysical frame structure parameters comprise forward link physical framestructure parameters and reverse link physical frame structureparameters; generating a preamble, wherein said preamble comprises saidphysical frame structure parameters, and wherein said preamble comprisesa first portion designated for broadcasting data; and transmitting saidpreamble.
 30. The non-transitory machine-readable medium as claimed inclaim 29, wherein said forward link physical frame structure parametersfurther comprise at least one of a cyclic prefix parameter, a bandwidthparameter and a plurality of guard carrier parameters.